Talmud - Makkot 23a מכות כ״ג א׳

GEMARA: The mishna teaches that the attendant rips the garments of the person about to be flogged. The Gemara explains: What is the reason for this? It is due to the verse: “Forty he shall flog him…and your brother shall be debased before you” (Deuteronomy 25:3), as tearing his garments debases him.

Rav Sheshet says in the name of Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya: From where is it derived with regard to the strap used for flogging that it is a strap from the hide of a calf? It is as it is written: “Forty he shall flog him,” and juxtaposed to it is written: “You shall not muzzle an ox in its threshing” (Deuteronomy 25:4), indicating that the strap is from the hide of an ox.

And Rav Sheshet says in the name of Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya: From where is it derived with regard to a yevama who happened before a yavam afflicted with boils, that one does not compel her to enter into that levirate marriage? It is derived from a verse, as it is written: “You shall not muzzle an ox in its threshing,” and juxtaposed to it is written: “When brothers dwell together” (Deuteronomy 25:5), which is the passage dealing with levirate marriage. The yevama is not muzzled, as it were, when she states that she does not want to enter into levirate marriage with him.

And Rav Sheshet says in the name of Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya: Concerning anyone who treats the Festivals with contempt, it is as though he is worshipping idols, as it is written: “Molten gods you shall not make for yourself” (Exodus 34:17), and juxtaposed to it is written: “The festival of Passover you shall observe” (Exodus 34:18).

And Rav Sheshet says in the name of Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya: Concerning anyone who speaks malicious speech, and anyone who accepts malicious speech as the truth, and anyone who testifies a false testimony, it is fit to throw him to the dogs, as it is written: “To the dog you shall cast it” (Exodus 22:30), and juxtaposed to it is written: “You shall not accept [lo tissa] a false report; do not join with the wicked to be a false witness” (Exodus 23:1). In addition to prohibitions against false testimony and against accepting malicious speech, Rav Sheshet also reads into the verse the meaning: You shall not relate [lo tassi] a false report.

§ The mishna teaches: And two straps go up and down the doubled strap of calf hide. The Sage taught: And they are straps of donkey hide. As a certain Galilean interpreted before Rav Ḥisda: It is written: “The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s trough; but Israel does not know, My people does not consider” (Isaiah 1:3). The Holy One, Blessed be He, says: Let the one who recognizes its master’s trough, an ox and donkey, come and exact retribution, through lashes with a strap of ox and donkey hide, from one who does not recognize his Master’s trough and performs transgressions.

The mishna teaches: The length of its handle is one handbreadth, and the width of the straps is one handbreadth, and the strap must be long enough so that its end reaches the top of his abdomen. Abaye said: Conclude from it that for each and every one, we craft the strap according to the size of their back. Rava said to him: If so, there will be numerous straps in court for them. Rather, Rava said: It has loops; when the attendant wants, he ties the loops to shorten the strap, and when the attendant wants, he loosens the loops to lengthen the strap. The length of the strap can be adjusted to correspond to the height of the person being flogged.

§ The mishna teaches: One flogs him with one-third of the lashes from the front of him and two one-third portions from behind him. The Gemara asks: From where are these matters derived? Rav Kahana said: It is derived from a verse, as the verse states: “And the judge shall cause him to lie down, and strike him before him in accordance with his wickedness, by number” (Deuteronomy 25:2), indicating that the attendant strikes him in accordance with one portion of wickedness from the front of him, and two portions of wickedness from behind him.

The mishna teaches: And he does not flog him when the one receiving lashes is standing, nor when he is sitting; rather, he flogs him when he is hunched, as it is stated: “And the judge shall cause him to lie down.” Rav Ḥisda says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: From where is it derived with regard to the strap that it is doubled? It is derived from a verse, as it is stated: And he shall cause him to lie down [vehippilo], which is interpreted based on the similar Aramaic root ayin, peh, peh, meaning double. The Gemara asks: But doesn’t he require that verse for the fundamental halakha itself, as the mishna teaches: He flogs him when he is hunched. The Gemara answers: If so, let the verse write: Shall bend him. What is the meaning of: “Shall cause him to lie down”? Conclude two conclusions from it: The halakha that the person being flogged must be hunched, and the allusion to the doubling of the strap.

§ The mishna teaches: And the attendant flogging the one receiving lashes flogs him with one hand with all his strength. The Sages taught: For the administration of lashes, the court appoints only attendants who are lacking in strength and are exceedingly knowledgeable in Torah. Rabbi Yehuda says: The court may appoint even those who are lacking in knowledge and are exceedingly strong.

Rava said: It is reasonable to rule in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, as it is written: “Forty he shall flog him; he shall not exceed, lest he continue to beat him” (Deuteronomy 25:3). He explains: Granted, if you say that even people lacking in halakhic knowledge are appointed, that is why it is necessary to warn him not to add lashes. But if you say only people who are exceedingly knowledgeable are appointed, does the Torah need to warn the attendant? Apparently, even a person lacking in knowledge can be appointed as an attendant. And according to the Rabbis, that is no proof, as there is an expression that one implores only one who is already implored. In other words, only one who is already cognizant of a halakha can be effectively warned to observe it.

It is taught: When the attendant raises the strap to administer the lashes, he raises it with both hands, and when he flogs the one receiving lashes, he flogs with one hand, so that the lashes will come from him in a deliberate manner.

§ The mishna teaches: And the court crier recites the verse beginning: “If you do not observe to perform,” as well as other verses. The Sages taught: The most prominent of the judges recites the verses, the second most prominent judge counts the lashes, and the third most prominent says to the attendant: Strike him. When the lashes are numerous, the one reciting the verses extends his recitation; when the lashes are few, he curtails his recitation by reciting it faster. In both cases, he does so to coordinate the recitation with the duration of the lashes. The Gemara asks: But didn’t we learn in the mishna: And then he returns to the beginning of the first verse, indicating that one could read the passage several times? The Gemara answers: The mitzva is to precisely coordinate recitation of the verses with the flogging, and if he did not precisely coordinate between them, and he completed the recitation of the verses before completing the lashes, he returns to the beginning of the first verse.

The Gemara cites another baraita with regard to the number of lashes. The Sages taught: From the verse: “He shall not exceed, lest he continue to beat him beyond these, a great flogging” (Deuteronomy 25:3), I have derived only a prohibition with regard to a great flogging; from where do I derive that even a minimal excessive flogging is prohibited? I derive it from the verse that states: “He shall not exceed,” at all. The Gemara asks: If so, why must the verse state: “A great flogging”? This teaches that the initial lashes must be administered as a great flogging, with all of the attendant’s strength.

§ The mishna teaches: If the one being flogged sullies himself, with excrement or urine, he is exempt from further lashes. Rabbi Yehuda says: The man is exempted with excrement, and the woman is exempted even with urine. The Sages taught in a baraita: For both a man and a woman, they are exempted if they sully themselves with excrement, but not if they do so with urine; this is the statement of Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Yehuda says: The man with excrement, and the woman even with urine. And the Rabbis say: Both a man and a woman are exempt from further lashes whether they sullied themselves with excrement or with urine.

The Gemara asks with regard to the opinion attributed to Rabbi Yehuda: But isn’t it taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yehuda says: Both a man and a woman are exempted with excrement, indicating that Rabbi Yehuda holds that a woman is not exempted with urine. Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: There is no contradiction; that baraita is merely stating that according to Rabbi Yehuda both are equal with regard to excrement. That does not mean that Rabbi Yehuda holds that a woman is not exempted with urine.

Shmuel says: If they bound him to be flogged and he fled from the court, he is exempt. The Gemara raises an objection from a baraita: If he was debased with excrement, whether during the first lash or during the second lash, the court exempts him. But in a case where the strap was severed during the course of the flogging, if this occurred during the second lash they exempt him, but if it happened during the first lash, they do not exempt him. Why is he not exempted during the first lash? Let his status be like one who fled from the court before the flogging began, in which case he is exempt. The Gemara answers: There, in that case, he fled from the court and he is not compelled to return; here, he did not flee, and therefore he is not exempted without being flogged.

The Sages taught: If they assessed concerning him that when he is flogged he will be debased with excrement, they exempt him, as the court does not administer a punishment that will lead to debasing the one being flogged beyond the shame generated by the lashes themselves. But if they assessed concerning him that it is only when he will leave the court that he will be debased with excrement, they flog him. Moreover, even if he was debased initially, before any lashes were administered, they nevertheless flog him, as it is stated: “And strike him…and your brother shall be debased” (Deuteronomy 25:2–3), indicating that the reference is to one debased as a result of the lashes, and not to one who was already debased in court prior to being flogged.

MISHNA: All those liable to receive karet who were flogged are exempted from their punishment of karet, as it is stated: “And your brother shall be debased before your eyes” (Deuteronomy 25:3), indicating: Once he is flogged he is as your brother, as his sin has been atoned and he is no longer excised from the Jewish people; this is the statement of Rabbi Ḥananya ben Gamliel.

And Rabbi Ḥananya ben Gamliel says: And if for one who performs one transgression his soul is taken for it, as one’s soul can be uprooted from the world for one transgression, for one who performs a single mitzva, it is all the more so the case that his soul will be given to him, as the reward for performing mitzvot is greater than the punishment for performing transgressions. Rabbi Shimon says: It is derived from its own place in the Torah, as it is stated at the conclusion of the passage discussing intercourse with forbidden relatives, which is punishable with karet: “And the souls that perform them shall be excised” (Leviticus 18:29), and it states toward the beginning of that chapter:

Traduction : The William Davidson digital edition of the Koren Noé Talmud, with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz.

Makot 23a explores why the flogging attendant tears the offender's garments, the ox-hide strap's origin, and levirate marriage exemptions for a boil-afflicted brother.